San Antonio

Do you know more about the Alamo than I did ?? My guide on the San Antonio city tour seemed to think visitors uniformly thought certain things were facts because they had the John Wayne image in mind. Unfortunately, I think he was right as far as my mind went. This city is on the edge of the Hill Country of Texas. There is no desert here!! My image had the Alamo in the desert. The Alamo was founded as a mission church not a fort. Hmm. Not in my image. The Alamo is located in the center of the current city and in the center of a 100 year old town at the time of the famous battle. Hmm. Not in my image. You see, I had a lot to learn about San Antonio!

I took a full day tour of the city to see things Peggy and Mike had already seen. Saw the historic cathedral of San Francisco (St Francis) where the ashes of the heroes of the Alamo are buried. Beautiful church but ornate. I noticed that the icons in the apses off the main altar fit my idea of Mexican looking. Mary with a brown complexion, for instance. Perhaps closer to reality than our lily white images but a surprise for me. Anyway, a cathedral.

Then a visit to the famous Riverwalk. We took a boat ride along the two and a half mile section of the river which is like a series of canals. I thought it would have been totally appropriate if the boats had been gondolas from Venice. It was beautiful gliding along the river with a guide telling us of the wonderful restaurants along the sides. Sidewalk dining seems to be a must in season. We are returning to the Riverwalk tomorrow night to see the Christmas lights. Should be beautiful. We watched the parade of barges which followed the lighting ceremony the other night on TV. I was surprised to learn the river results from the overflow of an aquifer just a few miles north of the city. Flooding is a threat here so they have solved the problem by a series of watergates which prevent too much water from getting into then downtown area. They seem to block it and push it away from the city. The gates reminded me of overhead garage doors set in archways. They have also paved the riverbed and close sections each year to clean out the mud and debris. A fully tamed Nature! But beautiful to see.

My visit to the Alamo was very different than anticipated. It was Friday after Thanksgiving and the crowds were all around. I had to wait in line to enter the “Shrine” and never got away from the crowds there. However, it is a mission church on the same design as any other I’ve seen. It is run by the Daughters of the
Republic of Texas. Somehow, they have elevated this to shrine status and got the city and state to back them up. Never approved of the DAR or of this. By law, no building can be built here in such a way that the SHADOW of the building can touch the Shrine! Oh well, certainly more important than health care for children!!

Visited two of the five missions originally established in this town. San Jose mission is the largest and most historic of all those I have visited. The friars converted a number of local Indian tribes to Christianity. They employed them to build the missions. In this case, the Apaches began to attach the local Indians so the mission built a large enclosed area like a fort and let the Indians live inside this stone walled stockade. I took some pics of the Indian rooms along the wall, outdoor ovens and of the church. Most interesting.
I then visited Concepcion mission which was smaller and had not stockade. In both cases, the nave of the mission church was narrow and long with a choir loft reached by an outside staircase. Just like those in California I visited. These are older than CA but same design. These were built of stone, probably limestone, and mortared together. Walls were as thick as the adobe walls further West. The ceilings were made the same was with small branches laid over timbers and mud thatched.

Other than the unseasonable cold which we have experienced here, I enjoyed this visit. Temps:
Wed 90
Thursday 55
Friday 50s
Sat 40s
Sun 40s
Mon and Tuesday 60s predicted!!